Permanent metallic form for concrete building structures



A. G. OLSEN PERMANENT METALLIC FORM FOR CONCRETE BUILDING STRUCTURESFiled Feb. 20, 1935 JNVENTOR m, 52 ATTORNEY:

Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PERMANENT METALLIC FORM FOR CON-CRETE BUILDING STRUCTURES Alfred G. Olsen, Elkhorn, Wis. ApplicationFebruary 20, 1935, serial No. 7,450

12 Claims.

The invention relates to forms for building structures largely composedof concrete or other plastic materials and relates more particularly toforms which are combined with the poured plastic material so as toconstitute a permanent and integral part of the completed buildingstructure.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a concrete form of thecharacter described which is designed to be economically manufactured incommodity lots in a variety of shapes and sizes to be thereafterconveniently transported in bulk to the site or location of the buildingto be erected. l5 A further and important object is the provision offorms which are preferably constructed of die pressed sheet metal oflight gauge and each adequately reenforced to constitute separate andrigid form units, said reenforcing means being also designed to resistthe pressure of the freshly poured concrete as well as to interlock withand reenforce the concrete or other plastic material in the completedbuilding structure, thereby obtaining the advantage of weight economywithout sacrificing the desired strength and rigidity necessary duringthe erection of the building as well as after its completion.

A still further object of the LAinvention is to provide a concreteorother plastic form of the character described in which provision ismade for rapidly and conveniently laying or arranging the pre-formedunits in contiguous relation along regular or pre-formed rows or courseswithout necessitating the employment of skilled labor or speciallydesigned machinery, the forms being placed in position and interlockedwith one another by ordinary manual unskilled labor.

An additional important object of the invention is the provision ofimproved and simplified means for rapidly and conveniently interlockingadjacent or contiguous forms in a course prior to pouring the concretetherein, as well as interlocking in a similar manner contiguous forms inadjacent or superposed courses, whereby to maintain the forms in desiredpredetermined alignment as well as preserving the vertical alignment ofthe forms as successive courses are placed in position.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a light gaugemetallic or other form unit wherein the end, usual top and bottom wallsare eliminated, the unit comprising merely rigidly spaced substantiallyparallel wall elements constituting primarily the inner and Outer wallsof the completed building, whereby to augment and promote free andunobstructed flow and union of the freshly poured concrete betweenadjacent form units of a course as Well as between contiguous units insuccessive superposed courses. This feature constitutes a material and.5 important desideratum in providing an integral and homogeneousconcrete structure.

A further object of the invention is the provision of sheet metal formsof various sizes, configuration and thickness to constitute variousportions in the Vertical extent of the wall when desired, as well as toprovide integral continuous corner portions in walls meeting at an angleto l one another without any space therebetween, the invention furthercontemplating the use of the forms to outline and define window and doorareas Wherever desired in the building to be erected through the use ofsuch permanent form units.

A further object of the invention is to provide an integral, permanentsheet metal form unit the outer wall of which is preferably providedwith means formed integrally therewith to anchor and maintain in appliedposition an external coating of stucco or other plastic material. Theinner wall of the form unit may consist of expanded metal or foraminousor perforated metal mesh to adapt the same `to receive and securelysupport the usual application of plaster comprising the innermostinterior wall surface of the building. j

As an additional feature the form unit is designed and is preferablymanufactured to include as a component part thereof, a layer or sheet ofinsulating material, such as CelloteX or the like, which sheet isdisposed preferably immediately adjacent the inner wall of the unit andis coextensive therewith, so as to constitute with adjacent units asubstantially complete and continuous insulating sheet. It may befurther desirable to provide and the present invention contemplates, anair space or a plurality thereof, between the insulating sheet and theconcrete or other aggregate which is poured into the unit to promoterapid drying of the aggregataas well as economies in the use thereof. Tothis end an intermediate wall member or partition of sheet metal orother material may be disposed and supported on the transversereenforcing tie members or wiresbetween the inner and outer sheets todefine the inner surface of the concrete, and said intermediate wallmember or the tie members or both may be provided with means integral orotherwise, or suitable deformed, wherein to maintain the intermediateWall member in the desired spaced relation within the unit relative tothe inner and outer walls thereof.

The invention is of a nature and of such economical light weightconstruction as to permit all of the forms which are necessary to erectand constitute a permanent part of an entire designed buildingstructure, to be conveniently loaded into a single truck fortransportation to the site of the edifice whereby they are utilized andinterlocked by unskilled labor to constitute the walls n of thebuilding, it being understood that the usual concrete sub-structure orother foundation delining the walls of the building is first laid in theusual manner. On this foundation the initial course of forms is laid andinterlocked in accordance with the present invention. The units asaforesaid may be of any desired and varying dmensions; as an examplethey may each be two feet square and nine inches from wall to wall andconstructed of die pressed sheet metal. In laying the forms the concretemay be poured after each course is placed in position, or after two ormore courses are applied, the open marginal portions of the spacedrigidly united inner and outer wall members included in each formpermitting unobstructed flow and intermingling of the poured concrete oraggregate between adjacent forms, so as to provide during and aftersetting, a homogeneous wall of concrete amply reenforced and maintainedin position by the permanent metallic form units.

With such objects in View, as well as other advantages which may beincident to the use of the improvements, the invention consists in theprocedure, and in the use of the parts and combinations thereofhereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that theseveral necessary elements constituting the same may be varied inproportions and arrangement without departing from the nature and scopeof the invention.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood there are shownin the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practicaleffect, without limiting the improvements, in their useful applications,to the particular constructions which, 4for the purpose of explanation,have been made the subject of illustration.

In the said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the corner portion of a partiallycompleted and erected concrete or plastic building structure,constructed in accordance withand illustrating the nature and principlesof the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail in vertical section through one of thebuilding walls and showing a modied form of outer sheathing.

Fig. 3 is a similar View illustrating a modified form of building unitemployed in the walls.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 through the form unit butillustrating a further modified form of exterior wall covering orsheathing.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View, partly in vertical section, of one of thesheet metal block units employed in the construction of the concrete orplastic building wall members in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal section taken through the corner of abuilding and including portions of the side walls.Y

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating a portion ofone of the corner forms employed in erecting the building.

Fig. 8 is a detail view in vertical section through the building wallsat one of the oor levels of the structure.

Fig. 9 is a view in vertical section through a portion of one of the.block or form units shown in Fig. 5, but illustrating a modifiedconstruction of such a unit.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one of the clip members for holdingadjacent forms of a row or course in interlocked position.

Fig, l1 is a horizontal section illustrating a modied manner ofinterlocking the wall forms.

Referring to the drawings, the building is illustrated as erected on theusual concrete or other foundation I which is previously laid to conformto the shape and outline of the building walls. A row or course ofelongated block units 2 may be rst laid on the foundation l with theirend portions abutting one another and suitably interlocking together bymeans and in a manner to be hereinafter described. After the first rowof blocks 2 is placed in position to rest loosely on the foundation l,the space between the inner and outer walls of the block units may befilled with concrete or other plastic, or a succeeding course of blocksmay be placed in position above the blocks and superposed on the bottomrow of elongated block members 2. The succeeding block members areindicated at 3 and as illustrated may be substantially square inoutline, for example two feet in width and height and approximately nineinches in thickness. The above dimensions are merely illustrative of apreferred and'convenient size of block member, which may be constructedof any desired thickness or size, it being understood that the thicknessof the block represents substantially the entire thickness of the wallin the completed structure.'

As best seen in Figure 5 each block member or unit 3 consists primarilyof an inner wall member 4 and an outer wall member 5 secured together inspaced relation by a plurality of suitably disposed metallic tie rods orrelatively small diameter wire members 5. These tie rods rigidlymaintain the inner and outer wall members of the block in spacedrelation and the ends of the tie rods may be suitably secured as by spotwelding or riveting to the wall members respectively. It will be notedthat each block member 3 is freely open at its top, bottom and sideedges to permit free flow of concrete or aggregate between adjacentblocks, which would not otherwise be possible were the block members ofbox-like configuration with enclosing walls other than the spaced sidewalls 4 and 5.

Each block member 3 further comprises as a component preformed partthereof an inner insulating sheet 'I of Cellotex or the like which ispreferably disposed immediately adjacent the inner wall member 4 of theform, said insulating sheet being held against displacement by the tierod elements 6 which extend through said insulating sheet. Anintermediate preferably metallic sheet or partition wall 8 may incertain installations be provided and is similarly held againstdisplacement in each unit by the tie rodsv 6 which extend through saidintermediate sheet. The latter may be furred or bent outwardly at spacedintervals as at 9 to suitably space the intermediate sheet 8 from theinsulating sheet 'l to provide a plurality of air spaces or channels 9in the completed wall. The provision of the intermediate wall member 8is not essential to the invention but may be desired in certain concreteconstructions to prevent sweating of the latter as well as promotingmore rapid drying and to obtain obvious economies in the amount ofconcrete required.

It will be understood that the insulating sheet 'I and the intermediatesheet or partition are each co-extensive in size and area with the innerand outer wall members 4 and 5 of each unit so that when a plurality ofsuch units 3 are properly positioned in horizontal or verticalalignment, all of the described outer and intermediate wall members arein proper registration with corresponding wall members of adjacent unitsto constitute in effect a series of substantially parallel integral wallelements after the concrete is poured and the structure completed, asbest seen in Figs. 5 and 6.

The inner wall member 4 of the block or form unit 3 is illustrated asconstructed of relatively light expanded metal mesh, but the same may beconstructed of suitably perforated light weight sheet metal or ifdesired may be of the same material and formation as the outer wallmember 5, as illustrated for example in Fig. 3.

The expanded metal construction of the inner wall 4 of each form hasbeen found convenient, practical and economical as well as capable ofeifectively retaining an innermost wall surface of plaster or the like,indicated in the drawings at iii. The plaster lil is of course desirablyapplied after the building has been completed.-

The intermediate partition or wall member 8 may be perforated atintervals to aid in drying out the concrete shown at Ii, which concreteis poured into to completely occupy the space between said intermediatewall member 8 and the outer wall element 5 of each form unit or block.The outer wall member 5 preferably consists of light weight and gaugesheet metal, for example one-thirty-second of an inch in thickness,whichmay be die pressed as illustrated to provide outwardly extendingsubstantially horizontal dovetail or other projections l2 andalternately disposed recesses or channels i3. construction not onlyreenforces the metal sheet 5 against -distortion but also serves as anefficient anchoring means for an exterior coating of plastic material orstucco indicated at I6 and which may be applied to constitute theoutermost surface of the completed building wall.

The opposite ends of the inner and outer wall members 4 and 5 are eachintegrally flanged outwardly and thence inwardly as at l5, and the topand bottom marginal portions of each of said wall elements are flangedin a similar manner as at I6. These described flanged portions of eachblock or form permit the latter to be suitably and removably interlockedtogether as the same are arranged in a row or course prior to pouringthe concrete or aggregate, as well as permitting each succeedinghorizontal course of blocks to be interlocked with a previously laidcourse. For the purpose of interlocking each block of a course with) anadjacent horizontally dis-posed block, spring clip members i1 (Fig. l0)are provided and which extend around the flange portions l5 of suchaligned blocks, said spring clip member being disposed in a substantialvertical position on the inner and outer walls as the same are built up,and as seen in Fig. 6. After each horizontal Course is laid and asucceeding course superposed thereon, the horizontal meeting ilangedportions |6 of adjacent blocks are interlocked together by means ofhorizontally disposed spring clip members similar to the members l1 andwhich This described v may be of a length substantially equal to thehorizontal dimension of a form 3.

The members or forms 3a (Figs. l and 7) constituting the corner portionof the building where the walls meet at an angle, are each constructedsubstantially in a manner similar to the forms 3 with the exception thatthe same are integral and angular in horizontal section so as to becornpletely closed at the vertical corner line it of the building. Theinvention further contemplates the construction of these corner forms 3ain single elongated units each of a length substantially equal to anentire story of a building (Fig. 1). in practice the corner forms 3a maybe rst placed in position and secured by suitable stays (not shown)after which the initial courses of wall forms 3 are placed in positionand interlocked with the corner forms in the same manner as they areinterlccked with each other. For this purpose suitable spring clipmembers 2B are engaged with suitably disposed and aligned ange portions2l and l5 on the corner forms 3a and blocks 3 respectively (Fig. 6). Thecorner forms 3a. are likewise open at their top, bottom and side edgesto permit free flow of concrete between the corner and wall forms in themanner above described as contemplated by the invention.

The tie rod or wire elements 6 serve not onlyv to rigidly hold the innerand outer wall members of the form in spaced relation but also toadequately reenforce the concrete after it is set. These tie rodspreferably extend perpendicularly to said wall members 3 and t in theblocks and corner forms, being spot welded or riveted at their endsthereto as previously described, and adequately prevent outward orinward bulging or distortion cf these relatively thin sheet metal wallsdue to pressure exerted by freshly poured concrete orV aggregate. Ifdesired the lower course of forms 2 which are shown as elongated and ofreduced depth in Fig. 1, may be placed in position on the foundation lwhile the latter is relatively soft and before it has set, therebyserving as an additional anchoring means of the walls to the base, and amore eicient union or bonding between the concrete l I of the latter andthat poured into the forms as the latter are assembled.

The invention further contemplates constructing certain of the forms infractional sizes as indicated at 22 in Fig. l. so as to permit theblocks of succeeding superposed courses to be staggered as illustrated,when desirable. It may further be preferable to reduce the thickness vofthe forms from say 9 inches to 6 inches or less in the upper portions ofthe building wall or in succeeding stories.

Fig. 8 illustrates such a construction and arrangement, wherein formmembers of reduced thickness are disposed at a floor level indicated at29. This provides a shouldered ledge 33 for supporting a concrete orother floor 2E) and the exterior surfaces of the superposed wall forms.are in the same plane at the outerwall or" the building, for examplewhere the stucco Eli is applied. The presence of the floor 29 obviatesthe necessity for securing the inner walls l of the superposed coursesof forms together at this locality by the usual clip member. The upperportion of the intermediate partition wall B of the lower form ofgreater depth may be bent inwardly as illustrated to provide a channelSt to permit free flow of concrete between the door 29 and the wallconcrete i l when the installation is made. This deformation of the wall8 also closes the upper portion of the air space 9 adjacent the ceilinglila of the lower floor.

A further feature of the invention resides in constructing integral doorand window units to be placed wherever desired in the structure as thesame are encountered in building up the wall. Referring to Fig. l, adoor unit is shown at 23 and is of substantially integral constructionand of inverted U-shape, having side sill members 24 and an integral topsill member 25, said side and top sill members having a continuousclosed inner sheet metal wall surface 3|. Similarly a U- shaped windowunit 26 is illustrated, the same having vertically disposed side sillmembers 2l and an integrally formed top sill member 28, said sillmembers having a continuous closed inner sheet metal wall surface 32. Itwill be understood that the window and door elements or units 26 and 23are constructed in identically the same manner as the forms 3, differingtherefrom only in size and conguration. and these window and doorelements may be placed in position in the wall wherever desirable. Thewindow and door elements may also be provided with vertically andhorizontally disposed hook flanges 36 similar to the ilanges l5 and IGof the forms 3, so as to enable the wall form units 3 to be interlocked,as by channel shaped clip members Ha with said window and door elements.

The provision of the intermediate partition wall in the form is notessential to the invention as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 9, nor is itnecessary to construct the inner wall l of expanded metal or perforatedsheet metal. It may be preferable with certain structures, as well asmore economical, to omit the partition `wall and air space providedthereby and construct the inner wall of the same material and in thesame manner as the outer wall 5 as shown in Fig. 3. Under suchcircumstances the inner and outer walls may be spaced closer together toaiord economies in the use of concrete as in the construction ofgarages, silos and cisterns, and the air space eliminated. It will beunderstood that said inner and outer wall forms need not necessarily bespaced closer together, this being merely a matter of choice. Such aconstruction is shown in Fig. 9 and this figure also illustrates themetallic tie rods 6a extending at an angle to one another in oppositedirections. Such arrangement of the tie members may be employed aseiliciently reenforcing the spaced walls of the form as well as bracingthe same against relative movement in any direction.

In Fig. 2 the outer wall of the form is illustrated as provided withnailing strips or furring 38 housed within the die pressed recesses insaid wall, said nailing strips having attached thereto a suitable outersheathing 35. If preferable an outermost sheathing or siding ofclapboards or lapped shingles ffl!! may be suitably attached or securedto the sheathing 39.

In Fig. 4 a plurality of metallic tie members 4l are anchored at theirinner ends within the dovetail or other corrugations in the outer Wall5, said tie members acting as anchoring means to secure an outer veneerl2 of brick.

Instead of employing spring clip members I1 (Fig. 1G) for the purpose ofinterlocking the forms together, a construction such as illustrated inFig. 1l may be employed. In said figure the flange members I5 of theforms extend outwardly only and are interlocked by means of perforations3l which may be punched in the contacting ilange members by any suitableinstrument.

It will be understood that various methods of interlocking suchregistering flanges I5 may be employed without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

It will be understood that all of the forms employed in constructing thebuilding are preferably provided as an incident to their manufacturewith a coating of asphalt or other preservative paint. This renders themetal of the form impervious to rust and deterioration and results in astructure which in the completed building will last indefinitely.

The forms are constructed in bulk by suitable machinery which enablesthe same to be turned out in a factory economically and in largenumbers.

Practically all of the material employed in the building other than theforms may be of local origin, thereby resulting in a building structurewhich is far more economical in its nal cost than ordinary concrete,brick or frame. The cost of the materials is greatly decreased andelimination of skilled labor greatly reduces the cost of erection.

Certain features of the invention may be employed advantageously withoutemploying others, and the appended claims have therefore been drawn insuch a way as to set forth various useful combinations, only the morespecific of these claims being directed to a construction including allof the features.

What is claimed is:

1. A permanent form for concrete building securing the latter in spacedrelation, and an insulating sheet arranged between said wall members andcontiguous to said inner wall member, the space between said insulatingsheet and said outer wall member being adapted to receive pouredconcrete or aggregate surrounding and adhering to said tie members andto constitute with said form a permanent building unit, the openopposite side and end edge portions of said unit permitting free flow ofconcrete or aggregate therethrough to unite with concrete or aggregatein an adjacent formv unit or a contiguous course of said units.

2. A permanent form for concrete building wall structures, comprisingspaced inner and outer sheet metal wall members open at all edgesthereof, the outer of said wall members being provided with outwardprojections to receive and anchor an outermost coating of stucco or thelike, the inner of said wall members being composed of expanded metal,transversely disposed reenforcing tie members secured at their ends tosaid wall members for rigidly uniting and spacing the latter apart, anintermediate wall member disposed between said inner and outer wallmembers and anchored to said tie members, to provide an air spacebetween the same and said inner wall member, the space between saidintermediate Wall member and said outer wall being adapted to receiveconcrete or aggregate to adhere to said form and together constitute apermanent building unit, the open opposite edge portions of said unitpermitting free iiow of concrete to unite with concrete in an adjacentor contiguous form unit.

3. A permanent wall form for concrete building structures, comprisingspaced inner and outer sheet metal Wall members open 4at opposite sideand end edges thereof, the outer of said wall members being providedwith dovetail projections toreceive and anchor plastic or stucco, theinner of said wall members being composed of expanded metal,transversely disposed metallic ,concrete reenforcing tie rods secured attheir opposite ends respectively to said wall members for rigidlyuniting the latter and spacing the same apart, an in sulating sheetdisposed adjacent said inner wall member and anchored in position bysaid transverse reenforcing members, an intermediate sheet metalpartition wall member disposed between said inner and outer wall membersand secured to said tie rods against displacement relative to said wallmembers, to provide an air space between said partition and saidinsulating sheet, the space between said intermediate partition wall andsaid outer wall being adapted to receive concrete or other plastic totogether constitute a permanent building unit, the open opposite sideand end edge portions of said unit permitting free flow of concretetherethrough to unite with concrete in an adjacent course of forms orwith plastic concrete in a contiguous form unit.

4. In a Wall element for concrete building structures wherein aplurality of permanent metallic forms are arranged in superposed coursesand each adapted to receive plastic concrete therein; the improvementwhich comprises constructing the forms of spaced inner and outer wallmembers and forming outwardly and reversely turned flange portionsintegrally with and at opposite marginal portions of said wall members,and removable clip members for interlocking the flanged wall portions ofone concrete form with another to maintain the said forms of ahorizontal course in alignment with one another and against relativedisplacement, said flange portions and clip members being furtheradapted to maintain adjacent forms of superposed courses in verticalalignment and against lateral displacement.

5. In a wall element for concrete building structures wherein aplurality of permanent metallic forms are arranged in superposed coursesand each adapted to receive plastic concrete therein; the improvementwhich comprises constructing the forms of spaced inner and outer wallmembers open at their opposite side and end portions and havingtransversely extending tie members secured thereto for rigidly spacingsaid wall members apart, outwardly extending flange portions integrallyformed at opposite marginal portions of said wall portions, andremovable clip members for interlocking the said flange portions of oneconcrete form with the adjacent ange portions of another, to maintainthe said forms of a hori- Zontal course in alignment with one anotherand against relative displacement, said flange portions and interlockingclip members being further adapted to maintain adjacent forms ofsuperposed courses in vertical alignment and against lateraldisplacement.

6. A permanent form for concrete building structures comprising spacedinner and outer sheet metal wall members open at the opposite side andend edges thereof, said wall members being provided with outwardprojections to receive and anchor plastic material, and a plurality ofspaced metallic reenforcing members or ties extending at angles to oneanother and secured at their ends to the opposing surfaces of said wallmembers for rigidly securing the latter in spaced relation, the spacebetween said wall members being adapted to receive plastic materialsurrounding and adhering to said tie members to constitute with saidform after setting a permanent building unit, the open opposite side andend edge portions of said unit permitting free flow of concrete oraggregate therethrough to unite with concrete or aggregate in anadjacent form unit or a contiguous course of said units.

7. A form for building structures comprising spaced inner and outer wallmembers and interposed transversely extending tie members spacedinwardly from the marginal portions of and secured at their oppositeends to said spaced wall members respectively for rigidly uniting thelatter, the space between said inner and outer walls being adapted toreceive plastic material to constitute with said form a permanentbuilding unit, the open portions at the sides and ends of said unitbeing flanged outwardly and reversely to provide means for attachment toan adjacent form or forms and also to permit free iiow of plasticmaterial from the confines of said form to unite with plastic materialcontained within one or more contiguous forms, and means on an exposedside of one said wall member for receiving and anchoring plasticmaterial.

8. A form for building structures comprising spaced inner and outer wallmembers and a plurality of interposed .transversely extendingreenforcing tie rods spaced inwardly from the marginal portions of andsecured at their opposite ends to said spaced wall members respectivelyfor rigidly uniting the latter, the space between said inner and outerwall members being adapted to receive plastic material to unite with andanchor to said tie rods and constitute with said form a permanentbuilding unit, the open portions at the sides and ends of said unitbeing unrestricted, whereby free flow of plastic material from theconfines of said form to unite with plastic material contained withinone or more contiguous forms, is permitted, and means on the outerexposed side of one of said wall members for receiving and anchoringplastic material.

9. A form for building structures comprising spaced inner and outer wallmembers and a plurality of interposed transversely extending reenforcingtie rods spaced inwardly from the marginal portions of and secured attheir opposite ends to said spaced wall members respectively for rigidlyuniting the latter, the space between said inner and outer Wall membersbeing adapted to receive plastic material to unite with and anchor tosaid tie rods and constitute with said form a permanent building unit,the open portions at the sides and ends of said unit being unrestricted,whereby free flow of plastic material from the confines of said form tounite with plastic material contained Within one or more contiguousforms is permitted, the sides and ends of said spaced wall members beingflanged outwardly and reversely to provide means for attachment to anadjacent form or forms.

10. A form for building structures comprising spaced inner and outerwall members and transversely extending means secured at their oppositeends to said spaced wall members respectively for rigidly uniting thelatter, the space between said inner and outer Wall members beingadapted to receive plastic material'to unite with and anchor to saidtransversely extending means to constitute with said form a permanentbuilding unit, the open portions at the sides and ends of said unitbeing unrestricted, whereby free ow of plastic material from theconfines of said form to unite with plastic material contained withinone or more contiguous forms is permitted, the sides and ends of saidspaced wall members being anged outwardly and reversely to provide meansfor attachment to an adjacent form or forms.

11. A form for building structures comprising spaced inner and outerwall members and a plurality of interposed transversely extendingreenforcing tie rods spaced inwardly from the marginal portions of andsecured at their opposite ends to said spaced wall members respectivelyfor rigidly uniting the latter, the space between said inner and outerwall members being adapted to receive plastic material to unite with andanchor to said tie rods to constitute with said form a permanentbuilding unit, the open portions at the sides and ends of said unitbeing unrestricted, whereby free flow of plastic material fromv theconfines of said form to unite with plastic material contained withinone or more contiguous forms, ispermitted.

12. In a Wall for concrete building structures wherein a plurality ofpermanent metallic forms, each comprising inner and outer wall membersrigidly secured together, are arranged in horizontal alignment and insuperposed courses to receive plastic material therein: the improvementwhich comprises constructing the forms of an upper course of reducedthickness to provide wall ledges for supporting a concrete building oor,and bending the upper portions of the inner wall members of the formsconstituting an immediately contiguous lower course to provide acontinuous `horizontal channel providing free flow of concrete betweensaid oor and said wall to obtain a homogeneous structure.

ALFRED G. OLSEN.

